Chase Finlay – Fresh Face of the New York City Ballet

Chase Finlay – Fresh Face of the New York City Ballet

Twenty-one year old Chase Finlay fresh face of the New York City Ballet, returned to the coveted stage last year after an injury, and once again proved to notoriously critical ballet enthusiasts that, despite his age, he “can do it, and do it better than they thought I could.”

“I feel like the audience always wants to see a fresh face. They always want to see who can step up and do that role because it’s the same steps over and over. But if you get a different person to come in and change it up a little bit, then that’s exciting. I get the initial butterflies before the curtain comes up–I think, ‘Oh, shit! I have thousands of people sitting right in front of me.’ But once the curtain goes up and I’m in it, I forget about everything around me. Adrenaline kicks in, which helps. After a while, it’s like I’m up there with my friends and we’re just trying to have a good time.”